anita oday Tagged Articles at Cinematical

What are your plans for the weekend? Here in the U.S., most folks are enjoying a long holiday weekend, filled with food, friends, and fireworks -- and maybe a free concert and a movie or two. On a personal note, with local temperatures soaring above 100 degrees for the past week or so, I'm staying inside and out of the weather as much as I can. And so I was pleased to find Jazz on a Summer's Day is available for free online viewing, courtesy of our friends at SnagFilms.

Directed by Aram Avakian and Bert Stern, the film documents the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival and the America's Cup sailing tournament, two events which go together like a cool drink on a hot day. Performers at the festival include Thelonius Monk, Gerry Mulligan, Anita O'Day (pictured), Dinah Washington, Chuck Berry, Louis Armstrong, and Mahalia Jackson. My knowledge of jazz is extremely limited, so all I can add to that list is that I very much enjoyed listening to all the musicians. As much as anything, I got a kick out of the spectator footage -- nicely dressed folks, a number in business suits (!), stylish sunglasses, bright colors, the whole nine yards -- and the dulcet-toned, super low-key announcer.

Frankly, this is a good doc for watching, and listening to, in the background. We've embedded it after the jump. More information is available at SnagFilms.

After the jump: Watch Jazz on a Summer's Day!

A few bright spots aside, the August calendar of wide releases is generally pretty grim. (Do not speak to me of Clone Wars.) Luckily, there are always a few worthwhile flicks playing at the art houses, and the Indie Spotlight is here to tell you about them. We have the lowdown on what's opening "in select cities" this weekend, and if your city wasn't selected, at least you can file a mental note and keep an eye out for the film later.

Alphabetically, this week's new indie releases are: Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer, Bachna Ae Haseeno, A Girl Cut in Two, Henry Poole Is Here, and Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer. Note that all of those titles fit in the first half of the alphabet, and three of the five contain people's full names. Fascinating! My OCD is fascinating! Here's the scoop on each of them.

Henry Poole Is Here
What it is: A gentle drama (with comedic elements) about a forlorn man (Luke Wilson) whose house develops a water stain that some people think is a sign from Jesus.
What they're saying: It's always noteworthy when a movie takes a pro-religion, pro-faith-in-God point of view -- and even rarer that such a film debuts at Sundance -- but this one doesn't seem to have done it very well. The critics are split down the middle at Rotten Tomatoes, while Cinematical's Jeffrey M. Anderson calls it "lackadaisical" and "too uninspired to be inspirational." (I've seen it, and I say amen to that.)
Where it's playing: Pretty much everywhere -- it's opening on 500 screens. So keep the faith, indie filmmakers! It could happen to you!
Official site: OMG you guys, it has a MySpace page!